Hamptons Epicure: Where to Wine and Dine Your Valentine
If your favorite part of dining out is that you get to hold your partner’s hands between courses, I have some suggestions on where to enjoy yourself next week. We have some fine, romantic boîtes on the East End, each with its own unique flavor. Of course, any restaurant is improved by the possibility of “getting a room.” Here’s a selection of places where you can spend the whole night:
Click links for reviews!
The Bridgehampton Inn has quickly become “our place” to my husband and me. The restaurant was closed for all of January due to construction that has expanded the inn’s guest rooms and added a shop. It’s reopening for dinner service on Friday, February 6. Chef Arie makes the food sing, Innkeeper Sybille makes you want to stay in Bridgehampton forever and the servers are perfectly discreet.
The American Hotel in Sag Harbor is an East End standard of luxury to many. You wouldn’t be the first would-be spouse to try to float a ring on one of the AH’s Floating Islands come dessert time. In fact, I think they’ve officially lost track of just how many formal proposals have been made under their roof since 1972.
I’m ashamed to say that I’ve not yet had the pleasure of dining at East Hampton’s 1770 House. It’s at the top of my to-eat list. I know that it boasts an impressive chef in Michael Rozzi, so maybe this is the week that I book that dinner.
The North Fork Table & Inn in Southold tends to get everything just right. I’ve been trying to find some flaws with it for a while. It seems so plebian to be a fan of a restaurant that the masses tout as “the best on Long Island.” Oh well, I’ll happily eat crow here any time.
Jedediah Hawkins Inn in Jamesport is another viable option for good food, local wine and a weekend in North Fork Wine Country. Check out their Speakeasy in the basement, if that whiff of illegality fans your flame.
If you find Valentine’s Day more special when you sleep in your own bed, you might well enjoy a night on the town at one of these spots before slipping between the sheets:
The Jamesport Manor Inn in Jamesport is all about romance. It’s housed in a faithful re-creation of a Victorian mansion that burned to the ground on the site 10 years ago. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is. The first time my husband and I ate there, I swear to God, we gazed across the road and saw a rainbow shining above two frolicking ponies!
Il Capuccino, located just down the street from Sag Harbor’s American Hotel, is more of a “neighborhood place.” It has a real family feel but tables for two are to be had around the edges, underneath dozens of hanging Chianti bottles.
In East Hampton Nick & Toni’s is a no-brainer to impress a date. It’s also not too fussy, especially after last year’s remodeling.
Of course “French” is always a go-to when it comes to romantic escapades. Pierre’s in Bridgehampton offers little tables next to a roaring fireplace. Le Chef in Southampton is an effortless romp in all things French, but features fine, local ingredients. And the newest French addition to the East End, Le Charlot, also in Southampton, hits all the right marks for a romantic evening out—cozy, quiet (yet buzzy), welcoming—see our review this week.
Our course the ultimate luxury of an East End Valentine’s Day may be eating in. Stock up on locally made chocolates, cheeses and East End frutti di mare, ’cause baby it’s cold outside!
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